Oven with improved sealing means



Nov. 5, 1968 r. R. REHBERG OVEN WITH IMPROVED SEALING MEANS Filed March 30, 1967 E mw E w m. n 5 A m m A TTOE/VE Y United States Patent 3,409,004 OVEN WITH IMPROVED SEALING MEANS Thomas R. Rehberg, Chicago, Heights, 11]., assignor to General Electric Company, a corporation of New York Filed Mar. 30, 1967, Ser. No. 627,036 7 Claims. (Cl. 126-190) ABSTRACT OF THE DISCLOSURE This application discloses certain structural details which are disclosed and claimed in application Ser. No. 627,035, filed on even date herewith in the names of Thomas R. Rehberg and Norman R. Brown.

-In ovens for preparing food products it is desirable that an effective seal be provided between the oven chamber and the door to prevent the escape of cooking vapors and heated air from the chamber. The provision of an effective seal is essential in ovens of the forced convection type which include a fan for circulating heated air through the oven chamber. In such ovens whirling air currents are created in the chamber which necessitates provision of a very effective seal to prevent escape of air from the chamber. Forced convection ovens of previous design have either omitted seals entirely or have included rubber or fiberglass seals which deteriorate in time and which are diflicult to clean.

It is accordingly an object of the invention to provide an oven having a novel and improved seal which is inexpensive, durable and easily cleanable and which is effective to prevent loss of air from the oven chamber through the oven door.

It is another object of the invention to provide a forced convection oven having a novel and improved metal strip seal which is inexpensive, durable and easily cleanable and which can be readily installed and removed with respect to the oven.

In carrying out the invention in one preferred form thereof, the oven includes a housing defining an oven chamber opening at the front of the housing, with the housing having a front peripheral wall surrounding the front opening of the chamber. Door means is mounted by the housing at the front for movement relative to the housing between a closed position wherein the door means overlies the front opening and the peripheral wall, and an open position wherein the door means is spaced from and exposes the front opening. The seal of the present invention comprises substantially rigid and resilient strip means having a deflectible raised portion connected to a laterally extending side flange coextensive with the raised portion. The strip means is secured to the front peripheral wall by suitable fasteners applied to the flange with the raised portion completely surrounding the front opening and projecting toward the front to be engaged and deflected rearwardly by the inner wall of the door means when the door means is closed. When the raised portion is deflected by the door means it engages and exerts a force on the door means throughout a path which completely surrounds the front opening to thereby provide an effecice tive peripheral seal between the chamber and the door means. v

Other objects and advantages of the invention will become apparent from the following description taken in conjunction with the accompanying drawings in which:

FIGURE 1 is a view in perspective showing the oven of the present invention with the oven doors in open position to expose the oven chamber;

FIGURE 2 is a view in horizontal section of the oven of FIGURE 1 with parts broken away showing the doors in closed position and engaging and deflecting the sealing strips;

FIGURE 3 is a fragmentary view in front elevation showing portions of two adjacent sealing strips with their adjacent bevelled ends in abutment;

FIGURE 4'is a view in perspective showinga section of one of the sealing strips; and 7 FIGURE is an enlarged view of the left hand portion of FIGURE 2 showing in full lines the left hand door in open position and the associated vertical sealing strip in undeflected condition, and showing in dashed lines the door in closed position and the vertical sealing strip in deflected condition.

Referring now to the drawings there is illustrated in FIGURE 1 an oven for preparing food products incorporating the present invention. While the invention is applicable to ovens of various types, the invention has particular utility in connection with an oven of the forced air convection type and such an oven is illustrated in FIGURE 1.

The oven shown in FIGURE 1 includes a housing represented generally by the numeral 10 and formed of any suitable material such as steel. The housing 10 includes a top section 11, a bottom section 12, side sections 13 and 14 and a rear section 15 which define a chamber 16 of generally rectangular configuration opening at the front of the oven. The housing 10 also includes a front peripheral wall 17 which completely surrounds the front opening of the chamber 16 and which faces the front. A plurality of rails 18 are mounted on the side sections 13 and 14 within the chamber 16 in vertically spaced relation to removeably support horizontally a plurality of racks 19 in vertically spaced relation. The racks 19 are provided for the purpose of supporting food products to be prepared and any suitable number of racks may be provided.

The oven includes door means mounted at the front front for movement relative to the housing between a closed position when the door means overlies the front opening and a portion of the front wall 17, and an open position wherein the door means is spaced from and exposes the front opening. In the illustrated embodiment, the door means comprises a pair of doors 20 and 21 mounted by the housing 10 at the front for pivotal movement about spaced vertical axes adjacent opposite sides of the front opening. T 0 this end the doors 20 and 21 carry pivots 22 which are journaled in openings formed in a forwardly extending portion 23 of the top section 11 and in a forwardly extending portion 24 of the bottom section 12.

Any suitable means may be provided to permit actuation of the doors 20 and 21 between their open and closed positions. In the embodiment illustrated a handle 25 is mounted on the door 20 and suitable linkage (not shown) is connected between the doors 20 and 21 to permit substantially simultaneous opening and closing movements of the doors in response to actuation of the door 20 through the agency of the handle 25. The linkage (not shown) may be of any suitable construction such as asprocket wheel and sprocket chain assembly connected to the pivots 22 and may be contained within a hollow portion of the bottom section 12. The door linkage comprises no part of the present invention and for this reason is not shown. The doors 20 and 21 contain windows 26 and 27 to permit inspection of food products within the chamber 16 when the doors are closed. I

A baflie plate 28 is mounted within the chamber .16 to extend vertically in forwardly spaced relation with the rear section 15. The baflfle plate extends between the side sections 13 and 14 and is spaced from the top and bottom sections 11 and 12. In order to heat air in the chamber 16 suitable heating means shown in the form of electric heating elements 29 are mounted in the space between the baffle plate 28 and the rear section 15.

In order to circulate heated air through the chamber 16 the oven includes air circulating means comprising a fan 30 which is positioned adjacent an opening 31 formed in the battle plate 28. The fan 30 is rotated by a motor (not shown) to draw air through the opening 31 and move it over the heating elements 29 and around the upper and lower edges of the baffle plate 28. The forced circulation of air within the chamber 16 resulting from operation of the fan 30 creates whirling air currents which would likely cause undesirable escape of cooking vapors and humid air from the chamber 16 in the absence of effective sealing means between the chamber 16 and the doors 20 and 21.

In order to prevent the escape of air from the chamber 16 the present invention provides a novel and improved sealing arrangement between the chamber 16 and the doors 20 and 21. In accordance with the invention the seal comprises substantially rigid and resilient strip means secured to the front peripheral wall 16 and including a deflectible raised portion completely surrounding the front opening of the chamber 16. The raised portion is positioned to be engaged and deflected rearwardly by the doors 20 and 21 when such are moved to their closed positions. In accordance with the preferred embodiment of the invention illustrated, the strip means comprises four metallic strips, 36, 37, 38 and 39 of identical cross sectional configuration but of varying lengths secured to the front wall 17 in a rectangular configuration with mitered corners. The strips may be formed of any suitable material such as for example stainless steel, nickel plated cold rolled steel, and aluminum coated cold rolled steel. The cross sectional configuration of each of the sealing strips is best shown in FIGURES 4 and which illustrate the strip 36 which is mounted at the left hand side of the oven to extend vertically as viewed in FIGURE 1. The strips 37, 38, and 39 are mounted respectively horizontally at the top, vertically at the right and horizontally at the bottom, all as viewed in FIGURE 1. The horizontal strips 37 and 39 are longer than the vertical strips 36 and 38.

Referring now to FIGURES 4 and 5 each of the strips includes a central raised portion 40 of generally V-shaped configuration having a longitudinal apex 41 and sloping sides 42 and 43 integrally connected to laterally extending coplanar flanges 44 and 45. The side flanges 44 and 45 are longitudinally coextensive with the raised portion 40 and are of a double thickness formed by folding edge sections of the flanges back upon the inner sections of the flanges.

In the present invention the strips 3639 are secured to the front wall 17 by suitable fasteners 48 which secure only the inner flanges 45 to the front wall 17. The fasteners 48 may comprise screws which extend through aligned threaded openings of the flanges 45 and the front wall 17. As best shown in FIGURES 2 and 5 the strips are mounted with their apices 41 projecting forwardly to be engaged and deflected by the inner surfaces of the doors and 21 when such are closed. In FIGURE 5 the door 20 is shown in full lines in its open position and when it is moved to its closed position as shown in dashed lines, it engages and deflects the raised central portion 40 rearwardly which results in outward lateral movement of the unsecured side flange 44 also as shown in dashed lines.

Each of the strips 3 639 clud r irs fsfq iylfiv degree bevelled edges with the bevelled edges of adjacent strips abutting when the strips are operatively mounted. Referring to FIGURE 3 bevelled edges 50 and 51 of the strips 37 and 38 respectively are shown in abutment.

The seal afforded by the strips ;3639 is very-effective in preventing the escape of air from the, chamber 16. When the raised central portions40 of the strips are deflected by the doors 20 and 21, the raised portions engage the inner surfaces of the doors'with force throughout a rectangular path which completely surrounds the opening of the chamber 16.to thereby provide a very effective peripheral seal between, the chamber and the doors. Preferred dimensions of the strips 36-39 are a thickness of .0149 inch, a width of 1.5 incheswhen undeflected, an overall height of the apex of .25 inch when undeflected, and a width of each flange of .375 inch; In addition, the vertical strips 36 and 38 have a length dimension of 20.125 inches taken along its shortest extent and the horizontal strips 37 and-39 have a length'dimension of 29.125 inches taken along its shortest extent.

An additional door lap seal is also provided between the meeting vertical inner edges of the two doors'20 and 21. To this end the inner edges of the two doors are formed with a stepped configuration as best shown in FIGURE 2 with the door 20 having three perpendicularly related surfaces 52, 53, and 54 and'with the door 21 having similarly three perpendicularly related surfaces 55, 56, and 57. These surfaces define a recess and a projection of each door with the recesses and projections of the two doors interfitting such that the surfaces 53 and 56 overlap and abut when the doors are closed as viewed in FIGURE 2. The door lap seal is not the sole invention of Thomas R. Rehberg and is disclosed and claimed in the aforementioned application filed by Thomas R, Rehberg and Norman R. Brown.

Although the invention has been described with reference to certain specific embodiments thereof, numerous modifications are possible and it is desired to cover all modifications falling within the spirit and scope of the invention.

What I claim as new and desire to secure by Letters Patent of the United States is:

1. Sealing means for minimizing the flow of air from an oven which includes a housing defining an oven chamber opening at the front of the housing, said housing having a front peripheral wall surrounding the front opening of the chamber and facing the front of the housing, and door means mounted by said housing at the front thereof for movements relative to the housing between a closed position wherein the door means overlies said front opening and said front wall, and an open position wherein said door means is spaced from and exposes said front opening,

said sealing means comprising substantially rigid and resilient metallic strip means having a longitudinally extending deflectible raised portion connected to a laterally extending flange coextensive with said raised portion, said strip means being disposed on said front'wall to completely surround said front opening with said flange against said front wall laterally closer to said front opening than said raised portion and with said raised portion projecting forwardly from said front wall to be engaged and deflected rearwardly toward said front wall by said door means when the door means is moved to closed position, and I fastening means fastening said flange against said front Wall, said raised portion when deflected by said door means engaging said door means throughout apath which completely surrounds said front opening to provide an effective peripheral seal between the chamber and the door means. i

2. Sealing means as defined in claim 1 wherein said strips means comprise four separate metallic strips arranged in a rectangular configuration having mitered corners.

3. Sealing means as defined in claim 1 wherein said door means comprises a pair of doors mounted for pivotal movement about spaced vertical axes adjacent opposite sides of said front opening.

4. Sealing means as defined in claim 1 wherein said strip means comprises four separate metallic strips arranged in a rectangular configuration having mitered corners, each strip having a longitudinally extending raised central portion and a pair of laterally extending coplanar flanges longitudinally coextensive with said raised central portion, said fastening means fastening only the inwardly extending flange of each strip against said front wall.

5. Sealing means as defined in claim 1 wherein said strip means comprises four separate metallic strips arranged in a rectangular configuration having mitered corners, said door means comprising a pair of generally rectangular doors mounted for pivotal movement about vertical axes adjacent opposite sides of said front opening.

6. Sealing means for minimizing the flow of air from an oven which includes a housing defining an oven chamber opening at the front of the housing, said housing having a front peripheral wall surrounding the front opening of the chamber and facing the front of the housing, and a pair of doors mounted by said housing at the front thereof for pivotal movement relative thereto about spaced axes adjacent opposite sides of said front opening, said doors being moveable between closed positions wherein the doors overlie said front opening and said front wall, and open positions wherein the doors are spaced from and expose said front opening,

said sealing means comprising four separate substantially rigid resilient metallic strips each having a longitudinally extending raised central portion of generally V-shaped cross section and a pair of coplanar laterally extending flanges intergally connected to the ends of the legs of the V and longitudinally coextensive with said raised central portion, each of said strips having bevelled ends,

said strips being disposed on said front wall in a rectangular configuration with their bevelled ends abutting to completely surround said front opening with said flanges against said front Wall and with the apices of said V-shaped raised central portions located forwardly of said flanges to be engaged and deflected rearwardly toward said front wall by said doors when the doors are moved to their closed positions, and

fastening means fastening only the inwardly extending flanges of said strips against said front wall to permit outward lateral displacement of the unsecured outwardly extending flanges in response to engagement and deflection of the apices of said raised central portions by said doors,

the apices of said raised central portions when deflected by said doors engaging said doors throughout a rectangular path which completely surrounds said front opening to provide an effective peripheral seal between the chamber and doors.

7. Sealing means as defined in claim 6 wherein said flanges are of double thickness formed by folding edge sections of said flanges back upon the inner sections of the flanges.

References Cited UNITED STATES PATENTS 1,501,320 7/ 1924 Drachenberg. 1,650,640 11/ 1927 Michaels 49485 1,672,834 6/ 1928 Spreen. 2,412,103 12/ 1946 Spooner 126-273 2,708,709 5/ 1955 Pearce 126-273 XR 2,827,673 3/ 1958 Bevilacque. 1,798,115 3/1931 Antrim l26190 KENNETH W. SPRAGUE, Primary Examiner. 

